Legend of the Ninja Dragon Sword
by Funkyshnelpu jr
Summary: Instead of meeting Minato in the Academy, Kushina Uzumaki meets Hayabusa Clan heir Ryu and becomes fast friends. When the two start falling in love, what does that mean for the future of Konoha that we all know? OC-centric, terrible summary, AU (obviously), M for gore (and potential sex, I don't know)
1. Chapter 1

**An: Hey, it's me! Here is another fanfic with yet another of my OC's in the sort of spotlight. Cause carpe diem right? So I'm going to be using the English words for jutsu. Only the Kages and suffixes will be in Japanese because reading them in English would be kind of awkward. Read and review!**

A seven year old boy sat in the back of his Academy classroom. He had tanned skin, short silver hair that spiked upwards, and bored green eyes with a slight golden hue to them. A dark blue scarf covered the lower half of the boy's face. He was dressed in a simple black t-shirt, faded grey cargo shorts with slightly frayed hems, and a pair of blue open toed ninja sandals. This boy was Ryu Hayabusa, son of the Hayabusa clan Matriarch and next in line to be the clan head. After reaching the proper age of course.

The Hayabusa clan is a highly respected clan in Konoha and have a spot on the Ninja Council. The clan came to prominence around the Warring States Period and were steadfast allies of the Senju clan. The Hayabusa helped the Uchiha and Senju clans create the village of Konoha. It is unknown when, but eventually the Hayabusa Clan developed a tradition of naming the clan heir Ryu. After some time, members of the Uchiha Clan began marrying into the Hayabusa Clan, and thus giving future generations of the clan the ability to develop the Sharingan. Overtime, the Sharingan in the clan created a new bloodline limit, dubbed "Falcon Sight" which granted users the ability to see an x-ray image of their enemies. This allowed users to accurately target an enemy's internal organs, turning the clan into even more efficient killers. In very rare cases, some Hayabusa members have developed the Sharingan in addition to the Falcon Sight.

The door to classroom opened with a slow creak and a brown haired man dressed in a jounin uniform walked in, closed the door behind him, and sat down at the desk at the front of the classroom. The man heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed his temples. "I really do not want this job." the man groaned. He looked up at Ryu and smiled, allowing him to get a good look at the man. He had shaggy hair that hung in front of his blue eyes and a stubble coated face. A few small scars lined the left side of the man's jaw. "I'm your teacher this year, Hayabusa-san. You can call me Yuki-sensei."

"Nice to meet-" Ryu was cut off by the door being wrenched open and excited children streamed into the room, shouting and laughing all the while. Ryu, annoyed, rolled his eyes at how childish the children were being. He was taught by his mother and his late father to be polite and well mannered at all times, this would have been unacceptable. He was usually scolded and punished if he was not acting appropriately. The rare cases when he was allowed such antics was his birthday and times of celebration, New Years for example. "Wonderful." he sighed.

"Move it, losers!" a girl cried as she pushed and shoved her way into the classroom. She was going to sit at the front, but upon catching Ryu's eye, marched to the back of the room and plopped down in the seat next to him.

"Wow. She's really pretty." Ryu gulped. The girl had a round face and pretty shoulder length red hair with a few strands that framed her face. She wore a sleeveless kimono-style blouse that was yellow in color and held closed with a green sash over a short-sleeved mesh shirt with a pair of dark blue shorts and brown ninja sandals.

"Hi!" The girl chirped with a huge grin splitting her face.

"H-Hi."

"I'm Kushina. Kushina Uzumaki."

"That's a pretty name," The girl blushed in response. "I'm Ryu Hayabusa."

"Oh my gosh! Really!? You're a Hayabusa? You must be super strong then!"

Ryu rubbed the back of his head. "Um well. My parents have been teaching me advanced jutsu that the Academy won't teach us and chakra control. The latter came first obviously."

Kushina giggled. "Wow. That's so cool. My very first friend is a Hayabusa."

"Maa. We're not _that_ great."

"Are you kidding? Everyone in your clan became a ninja and was renowned for their battlefield prowess. Most, if not all, are in ANBU and most of your clan ends up surviving long enough to retire. How is that "not that great"? Seriously your clan has the lowest casualty rate I've heard of in my life."

"Okay, maybe we're _a little_ great. But it's all just a focus on increasing our speed and agility. We want to be able to eliminate our target and move on before we are in danger."

"Yeah but-"

"Good morning class." Yuki-sensei said, rising from his desk. "I'm going to be your teacher this year. You can all call me Yuki-sensei. I will call each of you one by one to come stand in front of the classroom and introduce yourself. I want you to state your name, likes, dislikes, and your dreams for the future."

"I doubt it's _just_ because of your focus on speed." Kushina whispered.

"I really don't know what to tell you." Ryu whispered back. "My whole clan forces its members to work on their speed and agility as much as possible. Knowing how to use the environment to your advantage helps too I guess but I don't see how that helps all that much. We're just lucky I guess."

"I think there's more to it than that."

"If there is, I don't know about it. Sorry."

"It's fine. I'm just glad your family is going to be able to teach me how to reach old age." Kushina and Ryu laughed quietly at that.

Ryu heard his name being called and casually stood to walk to the front of the room, ignoring the conversations of his classmates as he went. He cleared his throat before saying, "My name is Ryu Hayabusa. Likes? I dunno. My mom I guess." Several kids jeered at him but he simply gave them the finger and continued on. "Dislikes? Um, sour foods? Sure, let's go with that. Dreams for the future? Be a good ninja I guess. I dunno, I haven't really given it much thought." He shrugged and walked back to his seat as Yuki-sensei dismissed him. He closed his eyes as he sat down. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when you go up." He said to Kushina, his new and only friend. With that, he fell asleep.

After what seemed to be only a couple seconds after closing his eyes, he was lightly shaken, and woken up. Kushina smiled at him as he glanced at her with one eye before walking to the front of the room. "My name is Kushina Uzumaki. I like pulling pranks, talking with my friends, salt ramen and cooking. I dislike bitter and sour food and coffee. I'm gonna be the first female Hokage!" This was followed by boos and laughter followed by mocking calls of 'Tomato' and 'You'll never be Hokage!'. Kushina's happy smile quickly fell and her eyes brimmed with tears.

"Hey shut up!" Ryu shouted and stood up, turning the room deathly quiet. Everyone looked at him in surprise. Kushina dried her eyes and smiled at him. "I happen to like tomatoes." he said, causing Kushina's smile to grow bigger. Growling, he continued, "How would you like it if everyone made fun of _your_ dreams? If Kushina becomes Hokage what would you do then? Those of you who made fun of her today? You can't ignore the Hokage. Doing so gets you arrested or killed for insubordination. Go ahead and make fun of her dreams but have fun having one, no, _two_ less people to watch your back when you get into trouble." Kushina walked over to where Ryu stood and gave him a big hug.

"Thank you for that." she said. He hugged her back and as they sat down, he wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"No problem." he said and looked at the silent kids. "What are you guys looking at me for? I'm not the ones being rude." He turned back to Kushina and was about to speak but was interrupted by someone bursting into the room.

"Sorry I'm late!" he shouted. He was a short blonde haired boy who Ryu thought looked girlish.

"He looks kinda girlish. Don't ya think?" he whispered to Kushina who giggled and nodded in response. Their teacher sighed and mumbled something under his breath.

"Please state your name, likes, dislikes and your dream for the future." he said with a tired sigh.

"Okay! My name is Minato Namikaze. I like reading and I dislike people who look down on others and my dream is to have the village acknowledge me and to become a great Hokage!"

"Great, great take a seat." their teacher said. Minato nodded and sat down in the front row. The next kid walked to the front of the room after his name was called.

"That Minato kid looks kinda unreliable to me." Kushina whispered. "He showed up late and he looks pretty weak."

"My thoughts exactly. Hey, before that kid ran in I was going to say that if you become Hokage then I would like to be part of your guard." Ryu whispered back. Kushina smiled.

"Okay. You can be my personal bodyguard." she replied.

"Also despite what others think, I think your hair is cool. It makes you look rather cute." Kushina blushed from Ryu's compliment and mumbled a 'thank you'. Ryu smiled and nodded. The rest of the day flew by until before either of them knew it, it was time to go home. "Do you wanna hangout at my house?" Ryu asked on their way out of the room.

"Sure!" Kushina beamed. "Maybe I can get your mom or dad to teach me to do what your clan can do."

"Maybe." Ryu chuckled. "My mom will have to talk to the Clan Council about it. But she's the Matriarch so if she thinks it's not necessary she can not bring it to the council and decide on a decision herself."

"You-Your mom is the _Matriarch_ of the _Hayabusa Clan_?" Kushina gasped.

"Yeah. You're acting like it's a big deal." Ryu drawled, quirking a brow.

"It's not a big deal per se, but on my first day at the Academy I made friends with a soon to be renowned Hayabusa Clan member and found out that his mother is the Matriarch of said clan. You're practically royalty."

"You're really caught up on the fact that my clan is well known."

"Well known!? They're feared in every nation. Even the Land of Whirlpools, and we're _allies_."

"How do you know more about this than I do?"

"I may have a slight obsession with them."

"Why?"

"Why not? Everything about them makes them one of the most feared clans ever. Being able to see your enemy's important internal bits? Having the lowest casualty rate ever? Everyone in your clan being known and feared for their combat abilities? How could you not?"

"I think I see your point."

Eventually the two reached the Hayabusa Clan compound. "Don't expect anything too elaborate." Ryu cautioned. "Despite being well known and highly respected in the village. We Hayabusa prefer to keep things mundane in comparison to the Senju and Uchiha compounds. Expect to see a lot of simple houses and such. The most elaborate building is probably the Council's meeting hall, and even that is just a large empty room in a slightly larger than normal one room building. The thing that makes it more elaborate that the other buildings is the wallpaper in the room and the floor and mats being better quality than everywhere else in the compound."

"Don't worry. I've done my research."

"Jeez. Is there anything you don't know about us?"

Kushina laughed. "Not really."

Ryu hadn't been lying when he said that the buildings were simple. Every building was built in the traditional style: Built out of wood, elevated slightly off the ground, with thatched roofs, and sliding doors instead of walls. Every building looked the same with little to no distinction between them. The only thing separating one house from another was a small black banner hanging from the roof with the clan symbol in white, the property owner's first name, and a number to identify the lot the house was built on.

"This my house." Ryu chuckled, pointing to a small house that looked exactly like every other house on the street. The only defining characteristic was the small garden in the front of the house and the banner was white with a black symbol.

Opening the door, Ryu called, "Mom, I'm home! And I brought a friend!"

The sound of someone running was heard and a figure came sliding into view from a hallway on the right. It was a woman with waist length brown hair that framed her face and made her green eyes more pronounced, and a huge grin on her face. She was dressed in a simple pink dress, overtop of which was a clean white apron, and white calf high socks with the Hayabusa symbol in black on the sides. In the woman's arms was a large basket filled to the brim with a multitude of clothes and socks. "Ryu-kun! Welcome home!" She cried. Dropping her basket of clothes she rushed forwards and engulfed Ryu in a bone crushing hug. "How was your first day of school?"

"Boring. It was more introduction to each other than anything else." Ryu replied into his mother's breasts.

"Oh! This must be your friend." the woman gasped, eyeing Kushina. "She's cute."

"I know." Ryu drawled, eliciting a blush from Kushina.

"I'm Aiko." the woman, Aiko, said.

"I'm Kushina Uzumaki."

"Wow! An Uzumaki! Looks like your day was more interesting than you led me to believe, Ryu-kun."

Ryu grunted. Kushina giggled at her friend before blushing. "Um, Aiko-san. I was wondering if you could tell me how your clan got to be so strong and able to live to retirement and if you could teach me how to do that"

"Again with this?" Ryu mumbled. "She's been going on about our clan since we met. She's obsessed."

Kushina blushed harder. "It's really rather simple." Aiko replied easily. "I'd be happy to teach you."

"Don't enable her obsession, Mom." Ryu groaned. Aiko laughed at her son.

 **Four Years Later**

Eleven year old Ryu and Kushina sat together in the back of the classroom. Today was their Academy graduation exams, both kids were feeling rather confident thanks to their extra training. Their teacher stood in the front of the room and addressed the class. "I hope you all studied. If you fail you can't try again till next year. So yeah, good luck and stuff." he said. "So uh, let's go outside for the shuriken, kunai and taijutsu portions." Kids ran out of the classroom. Some pushed, some shoved, and others tripped on their way to the door. All wanted to be the first ones to the field. Ryu sighed and walked to one of the large windows. He opened it and motioned for Kushina to go out. "After you Kushi-chan." he said.

"Thank you." she said and kissed his masked cheek. Ryu stiffened and blushed underneath his scarf. He followed Kushina out the window and then closed it behind him. The other kids entered the target practice area soon after them. Their teacher body flickered next to them.

"Okay, we will start with shuriken and kunai portion of the exam." their teacher began. " I will call you up one by one so pay attention. You get ten shuriken and kunai to throw." Ryu zoned out and mentally went through the steps to successfully throw an accurate shuriken and kunai. He faintly heard his name be called and walked forwards to start his exam. He picked up ten shuriken, five in each hand, and threw them rapidly one by one. All of them hit the bullseye of the target. Then he picked up ten kunai and rapidly threw them one after another. Like the shuriken, every kunai hit the bullseye. He sighed and walked back to where Kushina stood. Soon it was Kushina's turn.

"Good luck." Ryu whispered.

"Not that I need it." Kushina said with a confident smirk. Ryu chuckled.

"A little luck never hurts though." he said. Kushina shrugged and walked over to pick up her shuriken. She threw them one by one and nine of them hit the bullseye while the other one hit just outside of it. She picked up the kunai and threw them. This time all ten of them hit the bullseye on the target.

The taijutsu was nothing interesting, just Ryu and Kushina passing with flying colors using taijutsu taught to them by Ryu's mother and other Hayabusa clan members. Everyone went back into the classroom for the ninjutsu portion. The ninjutsu portion went by quickly with Ryu and Kushina being ranked as the top students of their class. The teacher called out the names of those who passed before ending the class. "Alright, good job students." their teacher said. "Tomorrow those of you who have passed will arrive in this classroom for your team placements. Dismissed." Kids streamed out of the classroom as soon as those words left his mouth. Ryu and Kushina walked calmly behind the writhing mass of kids in front of them.

As they arrived at the front of the Academy they were met by Ryu's overly excited mother, Aiko Hayabusa. She wore a simple gray t-shirt and gray pants with open toed ninja sandals. "My little Ryu-kun passed his genin exams!" she squealed as she hugged him to her chest.

"Mom, Kushi-chan passed too!" Ryu whined and pulled out of his mother's embrace. "Aren't you going to bug her about it?" Aiko cocked her her head to the right and grinned.

"Kushi-chan?" she asked inquisitively.

Ryu gulped. "Crap." He prepared himself for the teasing that he would no doubt get from his mother.

"Does my little Ryu-kun have a crush on little Kushina?" she questioned.

"You aren't getting any information out of me!" Ryu replied and tried to run away. Kushina attached herself to Ryu's arm, freezing him in his tracks. His face turned red from feeling her still developing, but rather well endowed for her age, breasts against his arm.

Aiko fought to keep from laughing out loud.

"Does Ryu-kun have a crush on lil' ole me?" she asked innocently. Ryu mumbled something unintelligible. "What was that? I didn't quite catch that."

"I said yes." Ryu mumbled a little louder.

"Yes!" Kushina shouted. "I knew it was mutual." A victorious smirk formed on her face.

"I can already see your kids now. Little silver and red haired babies with green and violet eyes. They'll be so cute." Aiko cooed.

"Can Kushi-chan come over for dinner, Mom?" Ryu asked.

"Sure. But right now she has to go home and we have to go visit your uncle." Aiko said.

"Okay." Ryu said. "I guess I'll see you tonight, Kushi-chan. I'll come pick you up around six."

Kushina smiled. "Okay. Bye, Ryu-kun." She turned and skipped off to her house.

Ryu followed after his mother as she too turned and left the Academy grounds.

"I feel like I made a terrible mistake." Ryu muttered.

Aiko laughed. "Your father said the same thing. Come on, I'll race you to Uncle Sakumo's house. If you win I'll teach you a new jutsu." As soon as those words left her mouth, Ryu began sprinting the rest of the way, with her not far behind.

 **An: I've had this typed up for a few years, I don't know why I didn't post it. It was pretty bad though, so much of it has been edited with the introduction of a ton of new dialogue. I don't know if Kushina is too obsessive over this new clan I made or not but I'll let it be. I don't know what it is with me and OC-centric stories, but I just can't stop writing them. I think it's pretty obvious where the inspiration for my OC and his family came from, expect a lot of material to be brought over from there. Well, I'm done writing this chapter. Don't forget to favorite the story, review the story, and follow to see chapters similar to this one. See ya.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I don't know how old Kushina was when she was kidnapped so I'm going to make it up.**

Ryu, with his mask pulled down, and Kushina sat next to each other at a small ramen stand that Kushina had proclaimed "Sold the best ramen in the world." Ryu thought Kushina had an addiction to the small stand's food. But, being the enabling boyfriend that he is, he let her indulge her addiction. Kushina had large bowl of steaming miso ramen mixed with an excessive amount of meat sitting in front of her and was shoveling huge amounts into her mouth. Ryu watched her in amusement with his own large bowl of miso ramen, his had much less meat in it though. "Slow down, Kushi-chan. Your food isn't going to run away." he chuckled.

Kushina froze, noodle laden chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "Sorry." she mumbled, a blush painting her cheeks a bright red. "I just love this food you know?"

"You've said." Ryu laughed. "This food is good, I won't lie."

Kushina beamed. "Aha! I've turned another onto the path of Enlightenment." she exclaimed around a large mouthful of noodles. Ryu chuckled and shook his head.

"I swear, you like this stuff way too much, Kushi-chan."

"What blasphemy does my boyfriend spew!?" Kushina recoiled in shock. Ryu rolled his eyes.

"I'm just glad you don't eat this everyday. That would be bad for your health. Although, I'm not sure how much better eating this for every lunch is in comparison."

"I'm sure it's not much, but I don't care."

"Of course you don't."

"Are you gonna finish your ramen?"

"No. I'm full."

"Awesome!"

"Don't force yourself to eat everything. I mean it, Kushina. We're training right after remember?"

"Oh, right. Maybe I should stop then."

"That's probably best." Ryu nodded, pulling up his mask. "Ichiraku-san, how much do I owe you for our lunch?"

"Five ryo for each of your bowls." the gruff voiced chef replied. Ryu handed the man the money and walked out with Kushina. "Come again!" the man called after them.

"That was a nice date. Thank you, Ryu." Kushina said, sighing happily and leaning into Ryu's chest.

"You're welcome. I would have preferred something more formal." Ryu replied, wrapping an arm around her waist and squeezing lightly.

"Maybe next time we can do a formal dinner date."

"I'd like that, but in all honesty, I don't' care where we eat as long as I'm with you."

"Awww. That's so sweet." Kushina kissed his masked cheek.

The two entered training field four to find their teammate, Suzuka Kurosawa, waiting patiently for them. Suzuka was a girl with brown hair and purple eyes and roughly the same height as Kushina. She was dressed in a tan tank top with fishnet sleeves ending at her elbows, green tight shorts that ended at the knee overtop of calf length black tights, and blue shinobi sandals. She wasn't known for being the most fashion conscious. "You guys are right on time. Riko-sensei was here but forgot the scrolls she bought for us." she chirped.

"Alright. Thanks for letting us know." Ryu said.

"I can't wait to learn a cool new jutsu! I'm going to kick so much ass!" Kushina cheered.

"How do you know it's a jutsu scroll and not something else?" Ryu asked.

"What else could it be?" Kushina asked.

"Detailed instructions on how to manipulate chakra to different parts of your body. An in depth description of the types of jutsu and their strengths and weaknesses. Anything really." Ryu drawled.

"Look, Mister." Kushina said, getting into Ryu's face. "Just because you're cute and my boyfriend doesn't mean I won't hit you for being negative. Cause I will. I will hit you."

"Good morning my cute little genin." a cheerful feminine voice said from behind Ryu. The three kids turned to see their red haired sensei, dressed in the standard jounin outfit, holding three scrolls in each hand. "I have your scrolls!"

"Are they jutsu?" Ryu asked. "Kushi-chan has been dying to know if they're jutsu. She wants to be able to, and I quote, 'Kick so much ass.'"

"Yup! They're jutsu alright!" Riko-sensei replied.

"Alright!" Kushina cheered. "Let's see 'em, Sensei!"

Handing two scrolls to each kid, she said. "Kushina, here's your water and air scrolls. Ryu, your air and lightning scrolls. And Suzuka, your earth and air scrolls." She clapped her hands together and said, "You can practice those next time. Today we're going to practice taijutsu! Ryu, you're with Kushina today!" Ryu groaned. Kushina could hit _hard_. It sucked.

"Great." he deadpanned. "I'm going to have so many bruises after this."

"Don't worry, Ryu-kun." Kushina grinned, getting into a taijutsu stance. "I'll go easy on you."

"Please do." Ryu gulped, getting into his own stance. As Kushina charged, he said, "I'm going to die."

 **XXX**

That evening, after training was over, Ryu lay on his back in the middle of training field four with his mask pulled down and Kushina sitting his thighs. Large dark bruises covered his arms and face. Unseen from either of them, were the equally large and dark bruises that covered the front and back of his torso and abdomen. Kushina was relatively unscathed. Although Ryu had hit her as much as she had him, he had not used the same amount of force she did. "Why do you have to hit me so hard, Kushi-chan?" Ryu whined.

"Shut up. You won. You shouldn't be complaining." Kushina pouted and crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry." Ryu said as he sat up and hugged her. "Would it help if I let you win next time?"

"No! I want to win for real! Not because you let me win!" Kushina shouted.

"Maybe you should focus on your taijutsu more than your ninjutsu."

"Are you saying that I suck at taijutsu!?"

"No, but you spend far more time on your ninjutsu than you do taijutsu. It's important to focus on training everything equally until you decide to specialize on one aspect."

"Yes, Ryu-sensei."

"I'm just looking out for you. Hokage's have to be strong in everything you know."

"I know but-" Kushina stopped short at the sound of a snapping twig. "What was that?"

"It was probably just an animal." Ryu said as they stood up. "Anyway, it's getting late. I should take you home. You ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Kushina yawned and took his hand in hers. Just as they left the training field, something whizzed through the air behind them and Ryu, screaming in pain, fell to the ground. "Ryu!" Kushina shouted. Looking down at his body, she saw two shuriken protruding from his shoulder blades. "Oh my god! Ryu, we need to get you to the hospital!"

"No! Run!" Ryu shouted as he pushed himself up and tackled someone who was running up on Kushina. "Don't touch her!" he slammed a fist into the downed figure's throat. In response, the downed man punched him in the jaw. The two quickly began sending and receiving devastating punches to each other. Seeing Kushina, standing frozen in shock he yelled again. "Run! Get help!" Kushina turned to do just that, but a second figure grabbed her from behind.

"Let me go!" she screamed, fear evident in her voice.

"Idiot!" the new figure said to the one Ryu was currently assaulting, covering Kushina's mouth to silence her screaming. "Stop messing around! We need to get out of here. We got what we came for." The man underneath Ryu smashed his head into Ryu's nose, breaking it with an audible crunch. Ryu screamed but kept assaulting his victim. Growling, the man slid a kunai in between Ryu's ribs and headbutted him again, sending Ryu backwards several feet.

"I'm coming." the man groaned. "Damn brat. I'm going to kill him."

"No!" his friend shouted. "We need to leave. _Now._ Or all of this will be for nothing. And you know what that means."

"Y-Yeah. You're right." the man said fearfully. "Let's go." The two men took off.

"Damn. It." Ryu growled. "Damn. It. Dammit. Dammit! DAMMIT!" He wrenched the kunai out from between his ribs and pushed himself to his feet. "I need to tell the Hokage." Holding a hand to the bleeding wound, he ran as fast as he could to the Hokage Tower. Ignoring the shocked look of those in the tower, he sprinted up the stairs to the top. Level after level he climbed. "There's way too many stairs." he hissed, clenching his teeth in pain. Upon reaching the top, he burst through the doors leading to the Hokage's office. "Hokage-sama!"

"Ryu! What happened to you!?" Aiko gasped.

"Not now, Mom." Ryu grunted. "Hokage-sama! Kushina's been kidnapped!"

"What!?" came the Hokage and Aiko's shocked shouts. "When!?"

"Just now! At training ground four! Two guys attacked us and took her! I came straight here!" Ryu replied hurriedly. "We need to do something _right now_! If we don't, who knows what they'll do to her!"

"Aiko!" the Hokage shouted. "Find a tracker, go to training ground four, and find Kushina!"

"Right!" Aiko acknowledged and body flickered out of the office.

"Ryu, I need you to go to the hospital to get your injury looked at. I know you want to find Kushina, but your injury comes first."

"Okay. I'll go to the hospital right now." Ryu nodded and ran out of the room. Sprinting down the stairs two at a time he said, "Screw that. Kushina needs my help. I'll die before I let something happen to her." As he ran to the training ground, he pulled his tank top off and tied it tightly over the wound to stop the bleeding. The coldness of the night caused him to shiver slightly.

A flash of red in the moonlight caught his attention as he ran onto the training field and he moved closer to get a better look at it. 'Is that Kushi-chan's hair?' He brought the object closer to his nose. Pulling his mask down, he sniffed at the strand. Smelling Kushina's shampoo he grinned. Pulling up his mask, he shouted, "Mom! Over here!"

"Ryu?" Aiko asked as she and an Inuzuka woman and her, rather old looking, dog arrived. "What are you doing here? Where's your shirt?"

"That doesn't matter." he said. "I found a strand of Kushina's hair. We can use it to track her." He bent down and shoved said strand of hair in front of the dog's nose.

"How did you know it was Kushina's hair?" Aiko asked in surprise.

"One, it's the prettiest hair I've ever seen, I'd be able to recognize it anywhere. And two, I smelled her shampoo off of it. We need to move! Now!"

"Let's go! Inuzuka-san, come on!" Aiko ordered. The three ninja took off through the trees and let the ninja dog lead them.

They traveled for several miles non stop, Ryu was unwilling to admit his lungs were burning or that the travel was making his injury worse, before the dog stopped.

"What's wrong?" Ryu asked, struggling to hide his panting. "Did he lose the scent?"

"I think so." The Inuzuka woman replied. "Can you find it again, boy?"

The dog barked. It sniffed around a few more times before taking off in a different direction. "Let's go!" Ryu shouted and ran after the dog.

"Hold up!" Aiko said after a few minutes. "I sense six different chakra signatures. One of which is Kushina's. They aren't moving."

"They must be planning their next course of action. We have to be fast." Ryu said seriously. "They don't know we're here. They might not even know if someone is coming. We can use that to our advantage. One of us can engage them, distract them, another can grab Kushina and go back to Konoha, and the other can assist the first in capturing or eliminating the kidnappers."

"I don't exactly think it'll work, but it's the only thing we got and we don't know how long until they start moving again, so we don't exactly have time to think of anything else." Aiko said. "Who's going to distract them?"

"I will." Ryu said quickly. When he saw his mother about to protest, he said, "We don't have time to argue, Mom. Inuzuka-san, I assume your dog is combat trained?" At the Inuzuka's nod, he continued. "You'll assist me in capturing or eliminating them. Mom, you'll grab Kushina and book it as fast as you can back to Konoha. Got it? Good. Let's go." Ryu dropped down to the ground below silently. Growling, he ran towards the kidnappers. He quickly noted three men, two women, and Kushina. Diving at a woman's knees he screamed, "Give me back, Kushi-chan, you bastards!" The woman yelped and collapsed on top of Ryu's back. The other's turned to the disturbance.

"Hey, Ikoma, isn't that the brat who broke your jaw?" One of the men asked.

"It is!" Another gasped. "Come here you little brat!" He advanced on Ryu and pulled him from underneath the woman. Ryu grabbed the man's face and pressed his thumbs into the man's eyes. Screaming, the man dropped Ryu who punched him in the crotch and advanced on the other three. Several barks distracted their attention as a dog flew through the air and collided with the other woman. The Inuzuka woman came up behind them and, attacking a pressure point, knocked them out. They directed their attention to the remaining woman before engaging them, backed up by her dog.

Ryu felt a something collide with his back and sent him flying towards a tree. He hit the tree with a sharp crack and immediately knew something was broken, and judging by how much more it hurt to breathe, he assumed it was a rib or two. As he struggled to his feet, a huge fist smashed into his temple and sandwiched his head between it and the tree. The fist disappeared suddenly only for a hang to grab onto his leg. Drawing a kunai, he slammed it down into the offending hand. The owner, the man Ryu had fought twice before, roared in pain, but Ryu grabbed a handful of shuriken and punched him in the crotch. Screeching in agony, the man collapsed to his knees holding his crotch, and Ryu roundhouse kicked him under the jaw. The force of the kick snapped the man's head back, allowing Ryu the opportunity to grab onto the man's head and smash it into a tree and then the ground, sending the man into the sweet depths of unconsciousness.

Ryu sat down with an exhausted huff. "Damn, kid." The Inuzuka woman whistled. "That wasn't the cleanest fight I've seen, but pretty well done for someone as outclassed as yourself. Especially with that stab wound you got bleeding pretty heavily too."

"Thanks." Ryu replied breathlessly. "How are we going to get these guys back to Konoha?"

"I'll stay here. Gurren here will lead you back home. That okay with you?"

"Yeah." Ryu nodded. "Let's go big guy. We've got a ways to go."

The dog barked and took off towards Konoha, Ryu not far behind.

Each mile they traveled fueled the burning fire that was eating at Ryu's lungs and thighs. He could feel a warm sensation seeping through his tied up shirt and running down his side. The broken rib, or was it ribs?, jabbed his lungs with each step he took. "Konoha!" Ryu exclaimed when he could see the gates of the village through the trees. "Take me to Kushina please." he gasped out. The ninja dog looked skeptical but complied nonetheless.

The hospital drew within sight and Ryu shivered. He hated the hospital. It was always way too clean, not a spec of dust _anywhere_ , and smelled too much like antiseptic. Plus, it was too white. Shaking his head, he followed the dog through the halls until they reached a hospital room marked with a sign that read _Room 243_ on the wall. Inside the room was Kushina sitting in the bed in a hospital gown and she was talking to Aiko who was sitting in a chair next to the bed. "Kushina!" Ryu said, more like wheezed. "You're okay!"

Kushina glanced up at him and paled. "Oh my god! Ryu, what happened?" she gasped. Aiko turned around and turned equally pale.

"I got into a fight. No big deal. I'm just glad you're okay." Ryu smiled. "I'm going to take a nap now. With that, he passed out, head bouncing off the white tiled floor as he collapsed.

 **XXX**

Ryu groaned as he opened his eyes. He noted that he was wearing a hospital gown and in a hospital bed. He also took note of the bandages where he was stabbed, and the ice packs on his head and ribs. He saw his mother and Kushina, now in street clothes, sitting by the side of his bed with a worried look on their faces. "I regret nothing." he coughed.

"He's awake." Kushina gasped.

Aiko hit him over the head. "You idiot! You were injured and you only made it worse by doing what you did! I told you you should have gone to the hospital."

"Kushi-chan was more important than my health at the time." Ryu said defensively.

"You shouldn't have needlessly risked your life like that!" Kushina cried. "Aiko-san and Inuzuka-san would have had everything covered."

"Can I have some water?" Ryu asked. Aiko handed him a glass from a table next to the bed.

"How's our hero looking?" their Inuzuka friend asked as she entered, Gurren right beside her.

"Looking? Pretty bad I'm sure." Ryu drawled. "Feeling? Really thirsty." He then proceeded to chug the entire glass of water he was given. "How long was I out?"

"Til morning." The Inuzuka woman replied. "Can't leave til the Doc clears you."

"I'm here." a voice said from behind the Inuzuka woman. A blonde haired woman in a doctors uniform hurried into the room. "You can go, but I need to give you a corticosteroid injection first. I recommend taking an aspirin every day for a week and then once every two days. I also recommend sleeping on your back and eating lots of minerals and vitamins to promote the healing process. Ready for your shot? Okay." The doctor drew a needle from a pocket of her doctors coat and injected its contents into the area of Ryu's broken ribs. "You're good to go! Bye!" The doctor quickly left the room, leaving the rest of it's occupants stunned by her abrupt actions.

Ryu sighed. "Get me out of here. Now."

 **An: Chapter 2 is done. I wasn't sure if I wanted to end the chapter before or after Ryu is hospitalized. Like I said earlier, I wasn't sure when Kushina was kidnapped, so I just made it up and made it the year of her graduation from the Academy. I need to come up with some original plotlines to fill chapters until the second World War. Wish me luck. If you have any ideas for plotlines, feel free to leave it with your review or in a PM. Well, I'm done writing this chapter. Don't forget to favorite the story, review the story, and follow to see chapters similar to this one. See ya.**


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